Accepted Date: 17.01.2014 Available Online Date: 08.04.2014 ©Copyright 2014 by AVES- Available online at www.anakarder.com

Objective: Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a part of histological spectrum of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Higher incidence of cardiovascular mortality has been reported in studies including patients with NAFLD. Impaired myocardial function can be detected by a novel echocardiographic method called speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) when conventional methods were normal. Methods: Twenty-eight biopsy-proven NASH patients (mean age 41.6±9.8, 16 male) without hypertension and diabetes mellitus were included in study. All patients underwent transthoracic echocardiography. Offline analyses of images was performed and strain (S), strain rate (SR) parameters compared between NASH patients and controls. Results: RSR-S values were similar but RS, RSR-E, RSR-E/A values were significantly lower and RSR-A was higher in the NASH patients. There were no significant differences in CS, CSR-S, CSR-E, CSR-A and CSR-E/A values among the two groups. The most impressive results were obtained from longitudinal strain and strain rate parameters. LS, LSR-S, LSR-E, LSR-A, values were significantly lower in NASH group when compared with healty controls. Conclusions: The LV longitudinal and radial systolic functions may be deteriorated in patients with NASH even in the absence of apparent decrease in the LV ejection fraction. STE may be useful in detecting preclinical LV impairment in patients with NASH